Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Free Promethium to burn the heretics!

Promethium Storage

A&W fuel tanks

To follow-up my last post and the single can fuel storage tank, I thought the only thing to do was to double-down on promethium. So here is more about the two can fuel storage. You can never have enough to burn the heretics.

The most important thing about promethium is to not run out. There is nothing worse than your Hellhound hitting empty with plenty of tainted humans around to burn. So to solve this problem, I picked up the two-can fuel storage tank ($29) by Ironheart Artisans. This adds additional terrain to the table with elevation since it has a walkway similar to the single can fuel storage. For the review and build instructions for the single fuel storage system see my previous post (A place to keep my promethium).

With the two-can storage system, I was also able to make some changes to the build tutorial without taking too many additional pictures. This would be a good step-by-step reference for any of the fuel storage tanks.

Kit

Ladder/walkway pieces

Let's start by taking a look at the kit itself and the contents of the kit. As with the single can fuel kit, you will need to supply the tanks. I used two A&W cans, but any aluminum 12 ounce can would work. I used what I had readily available.

You can a couple of options for the cans as well. You can leave them full, which would add a significant amount of weight to the piece. You can empty and leave empty, but then you risk potential damage to the cans during play/use. You can also use a filler material, expansion foam, which will give some support but not too much weight. I decided to leave these empty since this is for a set piece of terrain.

Since everything with this kit is great than the single can kit, there are more pieces to assemble. I've taken separate photos for each of the sections of the fuel tanks to show the number of parts to the kit and will start each section with those photos.

Assembly

Ladder/Walkway

Ladder/walkway (side view)

The completed ladder/walkway spans the entire fuel storage system and provides for the elevation on this terrain piece. The assembly is comprised of sixteen stairs, one walk-way and two railing supports.

Ladder/walk-way (top view)

Assembly for this is essentially identical to the assembly instructions for the single can fuel tank. Starting with one rail/support, glue the platform to the bottom of the support piece. The walk-way will connect with two tabs that go into two holes and then a notch system in the support and walkway. Lay the support with the attached walk-way down flat and glue each stair to the support. Each stair will attach to the rail/support with a square tab into a square hole.

Once the stairs have had about 30 seconds for the glue to start to cure, the opposite rail/support can be attached. Apply glue to the walkway and each of the stairs so that the surfaces that contact the opposite rail/support will adhere. Starting with the walkway, attach the rail/support.

Ladder/walkway (side view)

Once this is attached work from the top to the bottom to attach one side of stairs. Once the side is fitted/work the stairs on the opposite side to fit into the rails. You will need to keep sufficient pressure on the rail to hold the parts in place, but not so much as to make it impossible to fit the remaining parts. Once the stairs are fit, give about 30 seconds for the glue to set, then you can stand to complete the curing process.

Top hatch components

Top Hatch

Since there are two top cans, there are two top hatches. This means twice as many parts to the assembly. Each hatch is comprised of a box frame, a top, hatch assembly, and two hatch doors. There are also four bolts that sit on the top, which I had neglected to cover in the single can fuel tank assembly.

Hatch to top assembly

With each piece in duplicate, I can show the components and the final assembled piece in one photo. The top of the hatch is clearly marked to show where the component pieces should be attached. Starting with the top, add glue to the bottom surface of the top and add the hatch assembly. After the hatch assembly is fitted, attach the bolts for the hatch mounts. Doing the hatch assembly last makes the bolt addition easier.

Hatch assembly to base

Hatch bolt attachment

The hatch base is four pieces. These attach with tabs and notches and as you can see there are curved pieces where the hatch assembly attaches to the fuel tanks. I placed one of the curved pieces face down on the table, applied glue to the side pieces and attached to the curved piece. Before the glue sets, attach the other curved piece and make sure the assembly is square and level then set down to cure.

Hatch doors

Hatch base assembly

With a square and level base, adding the top/hatch assembly to the base is simple. Apply glue to the top of the base and place the top/hatch assembly on top.

The hatch doors can be assembled in a number of manners depending on the final look of the terrain piece. In this image, I demonstrated a partially open hatch. You can make this one sided open, both open, both closed, or can attach them angled to replicate broken hatches. There are some additional images of completed tanks on the Ironheart Artisans website. In my final piece, the hatches are closed on the tanks.

Front/Rear Tank Face

Face assembly (front view)

The front and rear of the tanks are essentially identical. This assembly will be repeated for each of the tank faces and differences will be called out where necessary.

Tank front assembly

The front of each face is composed of three pieces. The main can support and where the tank connects and the face of the tank. This has a built on support rail system for the piece. The front part is laser-etched to show there the two pieces connect. Apply glue to the rear of the face and the rails then attach to the can support. The rear of the face has a separate support rail system that must be added. while the glue is still wet, position the rail support so the bottoms line up. This will ensure the components fit well on the fuel tank base.

Face assembly (rear view)

The tank faces can be assembled in a few ways. I have decided to make the tank have one side with closed hatches and one side with pipe connections that are open. The closed port assembly consists of one solid port piece which is laser-etched with a space for the port door assembly or the fly wheel. I did not use the fly wheel component which could also be attached on either site. You can also add the hatch in an open position on the tank port.

Tank rear assembly

The open side is created using two open hexagon pieces assembled one above the other. I glued these two pieces together then attached to the face. This allows the sides to be aligned appropriately.

I have selected the open side for future pipeline attachment to come in a subsequent build. Later in the build the signage details will be added.

Tank Base and Final Assembly

The tank base is composed of two middle support pieces and nine bolt heads. The front and rear tank assemblies complete the support structure for the base.

Base assembly

Front face assembly on base

Start by gluing the bolts onto the base. There are etched locations marking where each bolt head should be located. Attaching these to the base first allows you to maneuver them into location. Trying to add them to the base after the supports are attached makes attachment more difficult than necessary.

Next glue on the middle support sections. These are single pieces and are the same front and back. There is a slot in the base where the tab on the bottom of the support sits.

I started from the front to the back with the assembly. The front and rear faces attach to the base in a similar fashion as the middle assembly. The assembled from and read faces should have a tab at the bottom if assembled correctly.

Can addition

Once the front face is attached, apply glue to the interior rim of the front face and to the top of the middle assembly. Attach a can to the middle piece and fit into the front face. Apply glue to the interior of the rear face and the tab and attach to the base. It will take a little finesse to get everything assembled. The fit isn't exact, but it is pretty secure and with a little pressure until the glue sets everything will hold. Repeat each of these steps for the other side of the fuel tanks.

Assembled walkway/hatch

Once the cans are added and the piece has cured enough, move on to adding the finishing touches. Apply some glue to the bottom of the walkway tabs and some to the tops of the cans. Add the walkway to the base.

The hatches sit nicely to the top of the can. For aesthetics, I decided to secure the hatches just at the edge of the can where it slopes to the top. To keep the looks similar to the single can I assembled, I added the caution signs to the front face of the fuel storage.

Final Assembly

There are additional flame triangles should you decide to use those instead. They will be well suited to the sides of the tanks or alternates to the front/rear faces. I am planning on use them for the later build with the scenery, probably on the promethium lines running to/from the tanks.

Be a MO, fight cancer!

https://us.movember.com/donate/payment/member_id/7944493/

Copyright Information

All images on this blog which are not my personal photographs were selected after a Google or Bing search using the Free to Share and Use filter of the images. In all cases, the imagery is used without express permission of the owner though the image URL is included in the caption to direct views to the source. Any imagery that does not have a link is either owned by me or is understood to be freely available for public use. All mentions to commercial entities is done so as a reference with no affiliation to the commercial entity.